Built in 1870, the Guthrie-Bianchini House is one of Cambria’s oldest homes. The Bianchini family owned the house for 87 years beginning in 1914. In 1980, the house was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Cambria Historical Society purchased the property in 2001, then reconstructed and renovated it. Sitting on the corner […]
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Just 15 miles north of Cambria on a rugged, windswept coastal point rests the historic Piedras Blancas Lighthouse. It was first illuminated in 1875 to guide mariners along the rocky California coast. The Bureau of Land Management now manages the Piedras Blancas Light Station as a historic park and wildlife sanctuary accessed by guided tours
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If you listen closely enough in the afternoon atop an enchanted hill near Cambria, you can hear waves lapping along the expanse of coast below and exotic zebras grazing in nearby meadows. This is La Cuesta Encantada, or “The Enchanted Hill,” which is home to one of America’s greatest châteaus: Hearst Castle. Hearst Castle
Elephant Seals have inhabited the coast of Highway 1 for years, and they continue to be a famous stop while visitors are in the Cambria area. These ocean-going mammals spend eight to ten months a year in the open ocean, diving 1,000 to 5,000 feet deep for periods of fifteen minutes to two hours, and
Northern Elephant Seal Rookery Read More
Located on beautiful San Simeon Bay, the Coastal Discovery Center celebrates the connection between land and sea. The center offers interactive exhibits and educational programs that highlight the cultural and natural history of San Simeon, California State Parks and the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. The interface of land and sea is unique here, drawing people for
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We make small-batch, award winning cheese on our farm on California’s Central Coast. As a farmstead creamery, we raise our goats on the farm and make cheese from their milk, which allows us to manage every aspect of our cheese production. Stepladder Ranch was founded in 1871 and has been family-owned and operated for three
The first-order Fresnel lens used at Piedras Blancas Light Station was constructed in France by Henri Lapaute in 1872. The original lens and clockwork mechanism are on display next to the Veteran’s Memorial Building. The lens, on loan from the Coast Guard to the Cambria Lion’s Club, is maintained by the non-profit Friends of the
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The Covell Ranch offers Clydesdale trail rides through their nearly 2,000-acre ranch! This is an opportunity so rare that there are only a few places in the world where you can go and ride a Clydesdale! They also offer vehicle tours where you get to come and meet the herd of 50-60 Clydesdales of all
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As of June 2022, Nitt Witt Ridge is no longer open to the public. Nitt Witt Ridge, a California Registered Historical Landmark #939, is a house on a quarter acre in Cambria. Reclusive artist Arthur “Art” Harold Beal originally bought his hillside lot in 1928 and spent most of the next 50 years carving out
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Cambria is brimming with historic architecture dating back to the 1800s, with an eclectic and charming collection of architectural styles. Victorian architecture, popular when Cambria was becoming a bustling mining town, was the inspiration for many of the buildings still standing today. Interpretations of the historic style are mixed with more modern influences to create
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